I’ve never done a Mormon mission, nor have I served in a war, but I’m pretty confident in saying that Mitt Romney living in a palace in Paris for a year with a butler and a busboy making his daily meals was a slightly different experience than the men and women of the US armed forces who have risked their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan, let alone Vietnam (a war Romney avoided by going to Paris, but was more than happy to protest in favor of).

So, I’m googling, and what do I see? A story from the last presidential campaign in which Mitt Romney explains that working on his presidential campaign is similar “service to country” as risking your life as a US service member in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By the way, it’s interesting how the Romneys have had a pat answer to this question for years, but the answer keeps changing. First it was working on Mitt’s presidential campaign was just like serving in the military, and now it’s going abroad to convert Catholics in Paris to Mormonism is just like being drafted in Vietnam.

“The good news is that we have a volunteer Army and that’s the way we’re going to keep it,” Romney told some 200 people gathered in an abbey near the Mississippi River that had been converted into a hotel. “My sons are all adults and they’ve made decisions about their careers and they’ve chosen not to serve in the military and active duty and I respect their decision in that regard.” He added: “One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I’d be a great president.”

Yeah, the same way Mitt Romney showed support for our nation during Vietnam. He joined protests in favor of the war, then skipped the country for a few years to avoid it. Not unlike what his ancestors did in abandoning America for Mexico in order to get around those pesky US anti-polygamy laws. And not unlike the way that Mitt Romney today shelters his money abroad in order to avoid those pesky US tax laws.

Why is the Romney solution to every problem to simply leave America(ns) behind?

John AravosisFollow me on Twitter: @aravosis | @americablog | @americabloggay | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn. John Aravosis is the former editor of AMERICAblog, which he founded in 2004. He has a joint law degree (JD) and masters in Foreign Service from Georgetown (1989); and worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, and as a stringer for the Economist. Frequent TV pundit: O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline & Reliable Sources. Bio, article archive.